August 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 64
NRPA UPDATE
Member Spotlight: Attiyya Atkins
By Lindsay Collins
A
ttiyya Atkins is a public communications specialist for Broward
County Parks and Recreation in Florida. In this role, she engages
with the community through digital means, events, social media
and more. Atkins, a recipient of the 2019 NRPA Diversity Scholarship, will
be presenting her agency's newly developed STEAM program at the 2019
NRPA Annual Conference.
Parks & Recreation recently talked
with Atkins to learn more about
the STEAM program, her thoughts
on diversity and what keeps her
motivated.
Parks & Recreation: What about
your job inspires you most?
Attiyya Atkins: At our agency,
we're always pushing that parks aren't only fun, but are also an environmental venue, a science venue.
We try to give people different eyes
toward parks. My task, as of late,
is bringing the park system into the
digital age through social media
and online connections, as well as
by changing the face of our parks
to be not just recreation centers, but
also learning centers.
62
Parks & Recreation
What inspires me is that there is
so much to learn. I get to go out to
the parks and showcase what we're
doing, but I also get to interact with
the scientists, people who are passionate about parks and our environment. I get to learn something
new every day and share it with
others so everyone can catch this
environmental bug that I've got.
P&R: You are presenting at NRPA's
2019 Annual Conference on a
STEAM program newly created by
your agency. Can you tell us a bit
more about the program?
Atkins: We've had a lot of environmental programs coming to our
parks. Now, we're taking stock of
them and reaching out to the public-school systems to have a formally structured program. We work
with local schools to bus students
into our parks to get hands-on
learning experiences that will show
them the value of the environment.
They learn about mangroves and
their effect on air quality, pollution's effect on water and how land
pollution affects the fiddler crabs'
mating season. There's so much information we give - sometimes it
doesn't stick and sometimes it does,
but just giving that information out
to the students is beneficial.
And, we've seen great results.
The students I just mentioned
| AU G U ST 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G
went on to win an essay contest
about water pollution and water
quality. It just goes to show that
the repeated exposure to the environment and how it plays a role in
our daily lives is beneficial to these
students, the progressive-thinking
younger generation.
P&R: You are also a recipient
of the 2019 NRPA Diversity
Scholarship. Can you tell us a
bit about what diversity and
inclusion mean to you? How
do you think parks and rec can
make an impact in this realm?
Atkins: Parks are for everyone.
Diversity means not just having
a diverse staff, but having everyone on your staff understand who
they are serving and how best to
serve them. It sounds simple, but
it's so multifaceted. For example,
I'm African American and I and
people I know get their information from the internet, so social
media is a good market for that
demographic. But, older people
may prefer TV, so we must find a
way to get into television. Knowing each niche market and how
to approach it has been useful in
showcasing how important parks
are to everyone. For me to get a
clear head on who we are serving,
I make profiles of people I have
met or seen in parks, and I don't
exclude anyone. This includes
homeless people and others we
may not typically think of. We
have to think of them and the way
they get their information.
And, I believe, sometimes, people think that if you focus on one
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